How we built a theater festival

There's a sort of itch, familiar to all types of creatives, that urges us to dig in and get to work on something, anything. We've all met those people who have always wanted to get into acting, but could never quite find the time. Maybe you're someone who used to perform and now cannot make a commitment to regular rehearsals and a several-week production/performance schedule. There is also the dreaded art laziness – when the creative mood eludes us and we're left directionless. It's happened to all of us and it can be hard to kick. Frustrated by our own lack of creative output, and inspired by similar events around the world, our organization, Twin Cities 24, came about selfishly as a way for us to force ourselves (and others) into making something, anything, with no excuses. Twin Cities 24 has its roots in a similar event held annually by a student group called The Players at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. We'd all been members and participated or worked on the event there. The idea was that by keeping the time commitment to just 24 hours, we might encourage those students who may never have been able to participate. Twin Cities 24 is the same idea. That’s the incentive. There's something about a deadline that forces people to create and something magical about that time-span that makes people believe that they can do it. After all, it is just 24 hours – that’s it. How could you say no to jumping into something like that? As to how we did it – how we built this festival - here’s the secret: it wasn't that difficult. I don't mean that many people didn't work very hard for many months putting it together. I just think there's something daunting that comes with beginning things; a sense of impossibility that doesn't really diminish until you're nearing the finish line. There were a few key elements that came into putting the thing together, the most important of which is finding the right team. Putting together a good team of like-minded, passionate collaborators is perhaps is the single most important element. It takes some doing to form a team of compatible personalities. We assembled the team over the course of a few months, during which our idle musings about what a 24-Hour Festival for the Twin Cities might look like suddenly turned into actual planning. We started holding weekly meetings, usually no more than an hour, and shared organizational documents and progress updates via a private Facebook group. Facebook, as it turns out, was one of the most effective tools at our fingertips. We were able to share documents and updates, have conversations, and make decisions as a group during the week, instead of waiting for a meeting to get on the same page. We found this incredibly valuable to our process. Forward motion at all times, not just when we had the chance to connect during the week. Setting milestones and goals was important for keeping us all on track, but even if some of those dates slipped by us, our ease of communication allowed us to pivot towards a new deadline without much stress. When it came to finding a venue, our choice was easy. We'd been lucky enough to work in The Southern before as part of our Fringe performance, so we reached out to our existing contact at the space to make our reservation. There are a number of venues willing to take on new business for reasonable prices, so the space is there if you're willing to look for it. The other to-do items, ticketing, staffing, fundraising, those all fell together with a bit of research and a fair share of elbow grease. The final element that allowed all of this to come together was a healthy dose of passion. There are too many frustrated creatives around the world with no outlet. Putting together this festival was a serious challenge for us: to create something out of nothing, to prove that our talents would not suffer from a lack of opportunities. Without the regular outlet of college theater I think we were all feeling a little bored and this was a great way to get ourselves going. We're not saving the world over here, but we think it's important for anyone with an idea and a little bit of drive to realize that it can be done. This whole undertaking was quite a leap of faith for us. When you approach a normal production timeline, you've got some things set in stone. A production team is in place, your script is there, and your cast is ready to go. For us, we were met with so many unknowns: Who was going to participate in a first run event? Would we have an audience? Can we promote it effectively with the tools we have? Can we afford it? We've got it all figured out at this point (mostly), but it is terrifying. It is easy to see how many art endeavors come to a halt trying to find answers to questions like ours. We decided to be bold (or blind) and charge ahead without knowing. Nothing great ever comes from being comfortable and risk is your best friend. That’s the biggest lesson we've pulled from this.